The Dominator to Touch Down in Ottawa on Tuesday

The Team 1200 is reporting that the Ottawa Senators will hold a press conference on Tuesday July 6th to make the worst kept secret in the NHL official.The signing of Dominik Hasek will apparently be announced on Tuesday or at the latest by the end of the week. However, the word in Ottawa is that the announcement will be made on the 6th. The contract reportedly consists of a 2 million dollar base salary along with a bonus for games played and an additional bonus between 5 and 7 million should Hasek lead the Senators to a cup victory.


30 Responses to The Dominator to Touch Down in Ottawa on Tuesday

  1. TheCoach says:

    The press conference will happen on Tuesday at 10:00 o’clock in the morning.

  2. sixteenstone says:

    Ok for you shit heads who made fun of the leafs for resigning Belfour, well right now i would rather be in Toronto Shoes because i think the Leafs have the better goaltender between the two. Belfour has a nagging back but i’d rather have a bad back then a *****ed up groin. Hasek wont even play half the season. John Muckler is a retard hes turning his team into the old Buffalo Sabres 5 years older. Id kept Bonk and Lalime, i think Lalime is a good goaltender and had a bad playoff game. Prusak not going to win you the cup. Hasek wont even make half the season. Bad sign.

    The Leafs are still going to beat them.

    and one last thing John Muckler is the worst GM in the game.

  3. TheCoach says:

    Belfour is guaranteed 7 million dollars. Hasek is only guaranteed 2. He is less of a gamble.

    Also, teams need to make changes. Why would Muckler keep the same roster that has proved to be unsuccesful in the playoffs. It is a risk. But every championship team has made risks. Remeber when Colorado trade Owen Nolan. That was a huge risk and many said that it was a bad one to take, but it paid off.

  4. markjohnston says:

    only time will tell if this is the best or worst gamble of the season…if there is one.

    personally I wouldn’t have taken it, but I’m interested to see what happens.

  5. Lint07 says:

    You ask me TODAY which team I’d rather coach or be the GM of between Toronto and Ottawa and I take the Sens without even blinking.

    In fact, Toronto is so much in bad shape as a team, they wouldn’t even be in my top-15 teams I’d choose in the entire league.

    That was an easy question. Ask it again when the Leafs players’ age doesn’t average 35 years old. As much as it saddens me to break the news to you (yeah, right!), chances of a Leaf player having an heart attack this summer are by far greater than them winning the Stanley Cup, let alone reaching the finals…

  6. Lint07 says:

    said it once, I’ll say it again.

    This was the best possible move the Sens could do this summer. Either sign Hasek or keep Lalime because Hasek was the only upgrade over Lalime available.

    They signed Hasek.

    With Prusek possibly 1 or 2 years away from claiming the #1 role, I would’ve done the same thing. Hasek will be Prusek’s mentor and it’s gonna help him alot. Plus, 2M$ is not much of a gamble.

    Good move.

  7. habswinthecup-again says:

    The Senators do not have to worry about the “additional bonus between 5 and 7 million” because Hasek will not win the Cup for the Sens.

  8. Lint07 says:

    you know what, I wouldn’t bet against them.

    I have a feeling this could end up being an awesome move…

  9. Memtown says:

    This is the best possible move. Infact it was a move of pure genius. Lalime great goalie but he’s not a closer he will fall through in the ploayoffs and his asking price for a fall through guy is way to high. Hasek dropped his asking price, which backs my next statement, that Hasek realizes this is his last shot. He isn’t the regular character guy to do this but because of where he’s at he will step up and play through injury and he knows how to win he knows how to be great. Muckler is only doing what he did in Buffalo by bringing in Fuhr and that was a extreme risk that payed off ten full. Watch the sens will be a surprise this next season in 2008-2009, when the next season will start.

  10. mikster says:

    I find it the most idiotic signing. Muckler is really starting to kill this team.

    Hasek is injury prone. Is that hard to understand? The guy is old and plays a style that injures him.

    They just have to hope that he won’t get injured in the playoffs.

    If Hasek misses too many games, especially in the post-season there is only Muckler to blame.

  11. Freeze says:

    Pinning your hopes on Hasek is a gamble, but a good gamble in light of how many years they have given Lalime to win without desirable results, and Hasek having a full year to recover from groin problems. I-F the bargain basement Hasek is healthy for a full year, watch out. This could put the Sens over the top. It’s amazing how much confidence players gain through the magical performances of Hasek.

  12. Havlat_hasit says:

    You must be retarted or something….oh wait youre a laffs fan. Hasek is better than eddie, he always has been. How many Vezina’s has eddie won again. Beyond just being better, the Sens are getting him for a hell of alot cheaper than that old looser Belfour.

    Face it buddy the leafs are the sencond biggest joke next to the Rangers when it comes to money. I mean look at that contract you gave Aki Berg. Signing that Dyke of yours over 3 million.

    If I were you I’d be more worried about most of my team making it alive to the playoffs.

    The laffs are an american franchise in Canada. Keep throwing that money around if it makes wankers like you happy cause in the end the leafs will never win the cup. 67′ to 2067.

    please never post here again.

  13. wayne2 says:

    Both goalies are not in top shape,Hasek has groin

    problems while Berlfour has back problems but if

    healthy they are both great goalies.

  14. wayne2 says:

    Mike Fisher is injurie prone yet he`s our future

    captain,a great competitor and great for team spirit,

    should we not keep him.The point is,in the NHL the

    way its played today everybody gets hurt so we

    have to take chances sometimes and if he stays

    healthy he will make a difference.

  15. Sabres1 says:

    Hasek’s biggest problem is, has and will always be his attitude. He’s not a team player and will eventually fegin some injury to sit on the bench and watch his team lose. I’m telling you the first embarassing loss he takes he’s gonna grab his groin or knee, complain that he can’t play. I’m just happy he’s playing for someone other than Buffalo.

  16. nocuphere says:

    Clap clap clap, the sens actually became worse with this signing. Lalime wins 35 games a year for them, but their forwards can’t play playoff hockey and Lalime gets traded. Can you say scape goat!!!! I don’t care about the 2 crappy goals he gave up. The series should never should have gone 7, had that big mouth Alfreddson and the rest of the playoff no shows actually played hockey.

    Good luck with the groininator fellas!!!

  17. Furlong19 says:

    Ottawa just added a very big piece to the puzzle here. Ottawa has always lacked three things:

    1) Proven Goalie – Hasek has already proved himself and he wouldn’t be playing if he didn’t think he could win. Look at how the contract is structured. 4 million bonus for cup win. That’s awesome. He’s gonna be on fire come playoffs. Not to take anything away from Lalime, but he’s no Hasek. Lalime would seldom steal a game, and he only won when the sens really outscored their opponents. Plus he always let in bad timely goals, especially this past season.

    2) experience. They never had good quality older guys. Experience is not much as a concern because they have added Smolinski, Leschysyn, De Vries and Bondra over the years and the younger talent has developed experience. But now they add a heck of a lot of experience in nets. A proven winner and a hall of famer. Ottawa needed this. Guys in the room will look up to him, and feed of his leadership.

    3) Grit/size. Although I think they are tough enough, at least in the checking department, people still think they are too soft. I think it’s not a matter of being soft, it’s a matter of not having that big forward that can pay the damage in front of the net or in the corners. They need a guy that can do this on the LW.

    So after Hasek, here’s what I suggest, the sens do.

    1) As mentioned previously on this site they make a trade for restricted free agent Eric Daze. He could come cheap because of his bad back and his free agency. Hopefully he has a clea bill of health. This guy has size and good hands and speed too. Ottawa needs a big guy desperately up front. I would of gone with Knuble, Laperrier or Simon but these big guys are high in demand thus far.

    2) Make a pitch for Jason Wiemer. He’d only cost between1.75-2.25 a season, and he could be worth it. He can play LW or center and would take the ease off of Neil and Wiemer can score.

    3) go out and sign a 5th/6th defenceman. Particularly someone with a right-handed shot. They only have 1 I believe (pothier). Sean Hill and former Sen Jason York are two names that come to mind. But even if they add a laft handed shot, Jamie Allison, Brad Bombardir, Richard Matvichuk, Cullimore and many others would fit in perfectly.

    So this what I think the lineup would look like if I were GM.

    Daze Spezza Hossa

    Schaefer White Alfredsson

    Varada Smolinski Havlat

    Wiemer Fisher Neil

    Vermette and whoever else as reserves

    Chara Phillips

    Redden Volchenkov

    De Vries Hill

    Pothier as the 7th

    Hasek

    Emery

    btw – I’m going with Emery because it’s a personal thing. I can’t stand to see both Hasek and Prusek on the same team. You can’t have two goalies wearing those butt-ugly helmets. Not two of them, just one. So Muckler should tell prusek if he doesn’t change to a mask, he’s gonna trade him to a crappy team.

  18. defenestrate says:

    Let’s see – an over-rated, injury-prone, double-talking, media-confounding, team-chemistry-ruining goalie goes to a team named after a bunch of politicians?

    Sounds like a perfect fit to me….

  19. JohnFlan22 says:

    Hasek may be an asshole but….. he is one of the greatest goalies to ever play the game. If he rebounds from injury as I’m sure he will Ottawa will be probably the best team Hasek has ever been on including the out of their prime redwings. There offense is already nasty, now the D can jump in the play and not worry. The sens will be a very hard team in a best of seven with a goalie that wins games on his own…… watchout.

  20. Furlong19 says:

    OK LISTEN UP…

    What’s with all this Hasek bashing? It’s totally ignorant and unjustified. First off I hear people talk about this guys apparent “bad personality” and how he screws up a team’s chemistry. What’s the basis on this? Don’t give me this “he walked away from the team” last year attitude. First off, he had a torn groin or whatever and eventually had season ending surgery. He knew he was done, so he left. Then he even gave back 3 million bucks to the red wings organization, which he didn’t have to do. To me, that says loyalty. You don’t see Bure, Deadmarsh, Allison or whoever giving a dime back to their team. Secondly, look at how Hasek signed his contract. 2 million dollar contract for one of the greatest goalies of all time? come on. and a 4 million bonus if he wins them the cup. Now to me, that shows committment and dedication, and that he is not all about the money. I wish half of the NHLer’s took a page out of Hasek’s book, and the NHL wouldn’t be in this mess right now. One other thing to add, when Hasek was on Detroit for that first season, Steve Yzerman said that he has never seen an athlete half as dedicated as Dominic Hasek. Hasek went to every optional team skate, always keeping on top of his conditioning and worked harder in practice than anybody else. He gets mad whenever he lets in a bad goal at practice or warm-up. To me this shows a true athlete. Someone that plays the game because he loves playing it. He’s not about the money. He’s about going out and playing. And that is what true professional athleticism is about. It’s too bad others don’t display this passion that the Dominator does.

    And what’s this with Hasek being overated? He absolutely dominated the game for 6 years. Buffalo had no one else on their team, and look at how successful they were with him. They would win every game 2-1, 2-0, 1-0. He was unbeatable.

    And everyone who is saying this is a risky move, needs to give their head a shake. Look at his contract. a flat rate of 2 million a season. that’s still 750 grand cheaper than Lalime. So what the hell is the risk? They have Prusek and Emery that are both going to be #1’s one day, so if Hasek does get injured there is quality goalies to fill the hole. Realistically, if it is such a risk what should the sens have done? Sign Osgood, Weekes or Burke? No thanks, they’d go with Prusek. Hasek was the only goalie worth signing if you’re the ottawa senators. They need a proven goalie with loads of experience. They found that in hasek.

  21. nocuphere says:

    Noone should be questioning his ability Furlong, i’ll give you that, I think people are just curios to know why they would trade away a 1st class goalie like Lalime, who’s won 35 games a year in Ottawa, and then pick up a guy like 10 years older, and who’s known to have a serious groin problem.

  22. toto says:

    The Dominator can dominate my nuts! He is shit.

    As much as I hate the Sens, I hate to see this team getting ripped to pieces for stupid moves like this one. Get used to the ER!

    There were plenty of other options to go with in terms of trades and free agency!

  23. Sabres1 says:

    I hope you didn’t pay $3.95 a minute to Madame Cleo for that feeling you have about this move. He’s a pain in the ass and will eventually be their downfall, remember he was only a cup winner when surrounded by a really amazing Detroit team.

  24. meetak says:

    I can answer the Laime trade question i think : as a long term Sens fan, and a Lalime fan in the past, it was just time.He had been given enough opportunities to win an important game for the Sens, and hadn’t done it.

    Yes, he had been let down by lack of offense in key games, and a lot of that blame falls on Jaques Martin’s shoulders, but still, few Sens fans who watched game 7 vs the Leafs would want him back as the #1 guy next year.He simply missed two routine shots in the most important game of the season.One might have been forgivable, and it might have been possible to overcome that, but the second totally deflated any shred of confidence the team had in him.You don’t want to go into the playoffs a year later with every player wondering if Lalime would blow it again.Not for a team with the potential that the Sens have.

    The question marks surrounding Hasek are totally different : can he return to being the most dominant goalie in the game? or can he come close to it? Because the Sens don’t need a kiprusoff or Giguere of two years ago to win, they just need reliable netminding under pressure, and Hasek has proven he can do that.

    When Buffalo made their cup run, you have to admit that they did it on Hasek’s back.In fact, he made all of their players play better because they had such unwavering confidence in their goalie.

    I didn’t see that ever happening with Lalime, and neither did the Sens management.Good luck to him in St Louis.

  25. meetak says:

    Ok ask yourself this question : when the Leafs signed Belfour, do you think they would have hesitated for an instant to sign Hasek instead?

    Do you think the Leafs would have done better in the playoffs with Hasek that year?

    So fast forward two years : Hasek is a bit older, has had groin surgery, and is really really really intent on erasing the tarnish that last year put on his otherwise stellar record.It’s certainly worth the 2 million it’ll cost the Sens to find out if he still has it.

    I actually think most Toronto fans are hating this, because they know that they beat the Sens with superior goaltending last year, and now that advantage might be gone.Actually , Hasek’s chances of staying healthy are probably as good or better than Belfour’s, in that he’s had more time to recover/train, and is also less fat, not a recovering alcoholic, and is generally healthier overall.

  26. meetak says:

    Define “plenty of options”???

    Weekes? Osgoode? Burke?? Chechmanek? (snicker)

    There’s no-one else out there available who looks any better than their backup Prusek.

    There’s nothing to defend about this move.

  27. Freeze says:

    In January of this year, Hasek refused to accept his salary because he felt like he wasn’t contributing to his team. I’ve never heard of any professional athlete doing this EVER. Does that sound like a politician to you?

    “over-rated?” A Stanley Cup, 6 Vezinas, and an Olympic Gold? Wow, you have REALLY HIGH STANDARDS for a goaltender. Do you think he’ll ever be as good as David Aebischer?

    “media-confounding and double-talking?” Not sure what you mean, but more importantly, who should care?

    “team-chemistry-ruining?” What, because Ken Holland signed him when he already had 2 goalies signed? Is that Hasek’s fault? Seems like the Red Wing chemistry was just right in 2002.

    “injury-prone” Yes, I will give you that one, but you’re only batting .200.

  28. Sabres1 says:

    I don’t think he’s intent on removig tarnish of anything, he left Detroit guilt free giving them money back and hiding out in the states until he was sure he wouldn’t be prosecuted back home. Ottawa had more problems than Lalime and this punk does not make their cup prayers any more legit than they were a year ago.

    Trust me he will be pulling his own unique brand of BS in ottawa by halfway through the season if there is one.

  29. nocuphere says:

    True enough. It’s not like you guys don’t have a dependable back up if Hasek falters. Prusek and Emery must be chomping at he bit to get in there.

  30. defenestrate says:

    Thank you for not assaulting me at a charity game, then fleeing the country.

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